eldink wrote:the crowd was anti-joey in the finals...he had a been there done that vibe and pwg fans are underdog types....this year the wrestlers all will be elevated by a good bola performance [well, all but joey who has bigger exposure now] , i would say steen,generico,cage and mack do not need to win this as they are the top tier pwg title guys and are all super over..futureshock and wolves are more east coast guys and none seem proper for the title picture right now....perkins needs a win or two but is too low on the totem pole to go the distance...strong is always a hard luck loser at bola and that kind of image presents a good storyline and this is not the time to change it as he is a little less over now.....ricochet has too many booking situations and is very over wrestling a few times a year...i would love it to be one of the remaining four, my vote goes to elgin

eldink wrote:i would say steen,generico,cage and mack do not need to win this as they are the top tier pwg title guys and are all super over..

Steen and Generico don't need it, but Cage and Mack? It's not about being over, it's about PWG fully establishing their own talent by giving them landmark wins like tournaments (Davey in BOLA 2006, SSB in this year's DDT4, Bosh in the first BOLA, Bucks' first DDT4 win, Omega in 2009 BOLA). All these guys were over and arguably didn't need the wins mentioned, but it helped them tremendously. Cage or Mack winning BOLA, as over as they are in front of the live crowd, will make them more legit as all-around indy guys. Likely help them get booked elsewhere, too.

i am not against cage and mack winning and i see your point about the rub...the problem for me is that would be the most logical booking....it is what i expect and we usually get the expected and i would love to see something very different. adding elgin to the title picture would really give three interesting challangers to steen....adds more possibilies including a very cool three ways #1 contenders match

I saw this last night. Made me laugh. I'm guessing PWG has major plans for Cage (considering the release of 2 videos). I was never really on the Willie Mack train to the PWG title and now I love the rivalry between Mack, Cage and Steen. Great summer!

Not only that, but I can see Steen making it to the finals with plenty of fanfare, only to have them boo him in favor of another guy in the finals who is worthy enough, only for him to pull the victory out and just cement himself along Generico, Joey, and Dragon as THE LEGEND of PWG...

Or fuck, just throw it to Roderick Strong and let him have a half face/half heel year-long Danielson-in-ROH run with the title...Like I have been wanting for years.

For some fucking reason, I feel like Strong/Steen in the finals would be really amazing if Strong cut the promo of his life goading Steen into putting the title on the line in the finals. It would set the match up red-hot (think Generico/Danielson from Giant Sized Annual), and they could spit absolute FIRE for 10-12 minutes of intense, stiff-as-shit finals action.

It's amazing because in shoot interviews and stuff, Roderick Strong comes across as a great talker. But when he's forced to talk as a wrestling character, he just doesn't know how to bring it down to Earth, or even get it off the ground. Heard him cut a decent promo here and there in ROH, but for the most part...NAAAAHHH

I think he could pull it off, however, if the crowd was amped and the circumstances were unique.

Strong/Steen happening in the Night 2 Semis would be interesting. Imagine it: Strong beats Steen in a non-title match, goes on to face, maybe like, Brian Cage in the finals. In that match Willie Mack costs Cage the match, Strong wins BOLA. Then on the next show 2 big-time matches are set: Cage vs. Mack in a grudge match and Steen defending vs. Strong. The backstory could be that Steen only lost because he already wrestled that night.

and jeez, Brian Cage EXPLODED in popularity as of recently. I love it. I just LOVE that Mack and Cage are such good workers and are treated as big time players now.

I just don't wanna see Mack lose the motivation after the title win. Luckily, with how PWG booked the title match at Threemendous 3, it wasn't like Mack TOTALLY blew it. He was screwed by Cage, in a sense, and I hope the crowd doesn't lose steam with him after the title loss.

I noticed people are interested in seeing a person win BOLA because they "deserve" it. First B-Boy, now Roddy Strong. I just want a compelling story to be told over the 2 days. I would love to see Sami take it just because he hasn't won a match in PWG, yet. I'd love to see the continuation of Mack/Cage/Steen. Hell, I'd have fun with a Candice heel turn, joining up with Peter Avalon. I'd love to see how they shoe-horn the SSB and the Young Bucks. It should be fun either way, but I don't watch a show with any expectations because the surprise is half the fun.

Itchypanda wrote:I noticed people are interested in seeing a person win BOLA because they "deserve" it. First B-Boy, now Roddy Strong. I just want a compelling story to be told over the 2 days. I would love to see Sami take it just because he hasn't won a match in PWG, yet. I'd love to see the continuation of Mack/Cage/Steen. Hell, I'd have fun with a Candice heel turn, joining up with Peter Avalon. I'd love to see how they shoe-horn the SSB and the Young Bucks. It should be fun either way, but I don't watch a show with any expectations because the surprise is half the fun.

If you even expect to see SSB, Candice or Avalon at BOLA, you're dense. Possibly the Bucks, that's about it.

Why would PWG book SSB unadvertised? Compare the monetary cost to the surprise pop it would get from a live crowd. Not exactly worth it. I love SSB and wish they were booked, but it would be brought up already if that were the case.

Itchypanda wrote:I noticed people are interested in seeing a person win BOLA because they "deserve" it. First B-Boy, now Roddy Strong. I just want a compelling story to be told over the 2 days. I would love to see Sami take it just because he hasn't won a match in PWG, yet. I'd love to see the continuation of Mack/Cage/Steen. Hell, I'd have fun with a Candice heel turn, joining up with Peter Avalon. I'd love to see how they shoe-horn the SSB and the Young Bucks. It should be fun either way, but I don't watch a show with any expectations because the surprise is half the fun.

If you even expect to see SSB, Candice or Avalon at BOLA, you're dense. Possibly the Bucks, that's about it.

Why would PWG book SSB unadvertised? Compare the monetary cost to the surprise pop it would get from a live crowd. Not exactly worth it. I love SSB and wish they were booked, but it would be brought up already if that were the case.

As it is there's like 10 fly-ins in BOLA.

Ummm, so you didn't read the part where I said "...I don't watch a show with any expectations because the surprise is half the fun..."

Strong/Steen happening in the Night 2 Semis would be interesting. Imagine it: Strong beats Steen in a non-title match, goes on to face, maybe like, Brian Cage in the finals. In that match Willie Mack costs Cage the match, Strong wins BOLA. Then on the next show 2 big-time matches are set: Cage vs. Mack in a grudge match and Steen defending vs. Strong. The backstory could be that Steen only lost because he already wrestled that night.

Not bad, but I don't like the idea of interference in the finals of a tourney personally. First round, ok, but a tournament win is kind of tainted if it's by way of interference.Strong is another guy I could get behind winning BOLA though. Someone else on here mentioned Elgin as a possible win, but that would leave me with a feeling of indifference. The guys a beast, and a great wrestler; don't get me wrong. But I've never seen him have any kind of personality, and it would be very hard to get behind him for me personally to go all the way in a tourney. If he even makes it to the semis, that would be cool. I'd like to see him be a wrecking ball throughout the tournament, seeming unstoppable, and then someone who is a possible underdog against him (Ricochet, TJ, Bboy, Mack even) have to get through him to get to the finals. But it's hard to root for the most uninteresting of all of the participants to win such a big tournament IMO.

NHfan wrote:Not bad, but I don't like the idea of interference in the finals of a tourney personally. First round, ok, but a tournament win is kind of tainted if it's by way of interference.

I can't disagree with that. My thought behind the interference in the Main Event was that Mack avenges something Cage did to him in the Semis. Say, either Cage costs Mack his Semi match or they face each other in the Semis and Cage wins with a dirty tactic. Cage vs. Strong then happens, Mack interferes, and Cage doesn't look weak losing and Strong doesn't get booed 100% for beating a guy like Cage (who the crowd will likely cheer both night).

NHfan wrote:Strong is another guy I could get behind winning BOLA though. Someone else on here mentioned Elgin as a possible win, but that would leave me with a feeling of indifference. The guys a beast, and a great wrestler; don't get me wrong. But I've never seen him have any kind of personality, and it would be very hard to get behind him for me personally to go all the way in a tourney. If he even makes it to the semis, that would be cool. I'd like to see him be a wrecking ball throughout the tournament, seeming unstoppable, and then someone who is a possible underdog against him (Ricochet, TJ, Bboy, Mack even) have to get through him to get to the finals. But it's hard to root for the most uninteresting of all of the participants to win such a big tournament IMO.

Elgin is definitely interesting. Him being bland doesn't translate to his wrestling for me because, as you said, he's a big dude compared to most PWG guys, so every match dynamic becomes automatically interesting.

I don't think Elgin should win because it's too soon, but he's good enough to win. And he certainly doesn't need it to be elevated, because PWG has been treating him like a big deal since his debut.